Scheduled to launch in February 2026, the Artemis II Orion capsule and Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are currently at Kennedy Space Center in Florida for final integration and stacking. The Artemis II astronauts — comprised of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — recently spoke with the media at the Kennedy Space Center days before the Crew-11 launch about the struggles, the successes, and the emotional weight of being at the forefront of the future of human space exploration.
Shortly after their meeting with the media, the four astronauts suited up and began training in their Orion capsule that will take them around the Moon. The Artemis II Orion is currently located inside the Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF) in Florida, where it awaits its stacking with SLS in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).
“When you’re in your launch and entry suits and you’re with the crew you’re going to be on the pad with, that is absolutely phenomenal,” Glover noted. “Every single day feels more and more real, like there’s more and more chances to do the actual mission with the actual folks we’re going to be with, and we just couldn’t be more excited.”
The Artemis II Orion capsule inside the MPPF. (Credit: NASA/Frank Michaux)
One of the factors that has led to the Artemis II mission delays is Orion’s heat shield. Following the first flight of Orion aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) on Artemis I in November 2022, serious concerns were raised about the spacecraft’s headshield when the ablative material covering the base of the capsule, known as AVCOAT, was extremely charred with chunks missing.
While reentry is among the most extreme and demanding moments of a capsule’s mission, the AVCOAT material is intended to survive reentry and not suffer burns or tears. “The concern was in-plane cracking that was discovered due to permeability on the previous seat shield,” Wiseman noted. “It’s very well documented online.”
NASA officials said that any crew aboard that first flight would not have even noticed any heating issues, but a full investigation was undertaken and a report released late last year noted the need for a new reentry method. It was determined that the heat shield already installed on the Artemis II vehicle would remain, and a redesign would be applied to the Artemis III capsule. Although NASA noted that a crew onboard Orion would survive reentry even with the AVCOAT issues, many were still skeptical about NASA’s choices to utilize the same heatshield on Artemis II.
The Artemis I Orion capsule after reentry and splashdown. (Credit: Jack Beyer for NSF)
For Artemis II, Orion will not use a “skip” reentry method, which sees the capsule skim the atmosphere before committing to a full reentry. Instead, Wiseman explained that Orion will aim for a lofted profile, although the exact trajectory is still being finalized.
“I think all of that points in the direction of goodness, and I think if you, as a human being, were about to board this rocket and had sat in the meetings that we’ve sat in, listened to the experts, and gone through the data, you would have the same cover that we do,” Wiseman said.
Some online have raised concerns about the heat shield, including former NASA astronaut Charlie Camarda, who flew on the return-to-flight mission following the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia on STS-107. The STS-107 mission suffered damage on the leading edge of the Shuttle’s wing following a foam strike on the heat shield during ascent.
Wiseman went out of his way to acknowledge comments similar to these.
“A lot of those are outsiders… haven’t been in these meetings from day one and met the team and looked them in the eye and shook their hands at the ends of these meetings,” he noted. “But the other thing is, I don’t want to discount the things that they’ve said. Anytime you talk about fire, anytime you talk about entry and heat shields, [anytime] you talk about parachutes — these are high-risk things that don’t have fault tolerance built in. They have to work, and so I appreciate all the nudging, poking, and prodding they’ve caused. They have made us sharpen our pencils and put more due diligence and more vigilance into that process.”
Outside of the heat shield, there are several other items the crew is keeping an eye on as their flight approaches.
The completed Orion spacecraft for Artemis II. (Credit: Lockheed Martin)
“There are things on the operations side that the crew is always watching, but then there are things on the technical side,” Wiseman said. “And let’s be honest, we are not the ones watching them, but we’re aware of them. Our side hatch is a fairly complicated hatch, and there are some issues with that. So we’re still watching as they’re pressing through that.”
The crew also noted that there were many lessons learned from Artemis I, and that their roles as a face for the program mean they need to have a little extra scrutiny on all upcoming testing and processing.
“In some ways, the huge success of Artemis I is actually something we need to think about as a risk or even a threat to Artemis II because we have to keep our vigilance up,” Koch said. “So, I would say one of the things we learned is that, despite our successes, we have to keep asking hard questions and we have to keep chasing down things that are acting like we don’t expect.”
From a logistics standpoint, the crew is aware of the ongoing retirements and deferred resignations that will see 4,000 people leave NASA. Some have raised concerns about critical team members leaving their positions prior to the flight next year. Wiseman noted that the mission management team and leadership remain intact, but there are constant discussions with the crew about staffing.
The Artemis II primary and backup crews tour the VAB with teams that worked on SLS. (Credit: NASA/Cory Huston)
“We talk about that exact topic at every high-level meeting we have,” he said. “Where are our numbers? Are we losing critical folks? Are we extending critical folks? So I just think the open, honest communication is what is super important.”
While there is much focus on the technical side of the flight, the crew continues to train for the scientific aspects of their mission. The four astronauts are regularly working with scientists, geologists, and other professionals to make the most of their unique journey around the Moon.
“We may see a part of the Moon illuminated by our Sun that human eyes have not seen, and so there’s a desire to see the colors and the texture and the context and to be able to add to this scientific encyclopedia of what is known about the Moon,” Glover said. “I mean, we have imagery, but the human eye can see things that cameras can’t see, right? The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has given us a ton of data to help start this investigation, but we may be able to move it forward, even if it’s just one inch. And the fact that those teams — the lunar science teams all over the world — are counting on us to provide that… I guess the weight of that idea really hit me.”
The Artemis I Orion with the Moon in the distance. (Credit: NASA)
The crew is continuing to run simulations twice a week. The astronauts will soon participate in real-time mission training with actual flight software as their SLS rocket awaits the stacking of its Orion capsule inside the VAB. Orion is expected to be stacked within the coming months.
Through all of the training, troubleshooting, and changes, however, there is one thing the crew has been able to rely on constantly — laughter.
“We have been together long enough that we’ve kind of done the forming, storming, and norming part and we are getting to that point where we… are really hitting on all cylinders and just look at each other and know ‘hey, this person’s in need or this person’s in a great mood or this person’s got a great idea,’” Wiseman said.
(Lead image: The Artemis II astronauts discuss their mission during a July 2025 media event. Credit: D Wise for NSF)
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